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So I scribbled this down a long time back and was threatened with being fired if I didn't take it down, I was a puss and gave in. The guilty parties explained to me that today's client wants the "Boxwood" experience. THE Eagle river does not need to be stocked. No healthy wild trout stream should be stocked so some rich peep can pay extra to hold a giant fish that he or she or the guide for that matter is not talented enough to catch in the wild. I am sick and this is criminal and Oh Yeah I already got fired.

If every 12" wild trout in the river was rising to dries, would you nymph for stockers still??

Lets call this the Rocky Mountain version of STOCKERS VS WILD FISH, not nearly as serious as the the Pacific Northwest Steelhead version. None of this bullshit should be confused with any controversy over Wild vs Native either, that's another soap opera all together. And I know this subject has been done, it's just that I never had to deal with it consistently here on THE Eagle River until last August, when into the mix of my favorite fish on the planet a mysterious truck dumped a bunch of pen raised freaks that everyone wants a picture of.

If they stocked Permit would you chase them instead of their pure bred, hard as hell to catch step brother?

NOT A STOCKER, same stretch of river though

Last week I ran some photos trying to highlight the gorgeousness that is wild trout. The color difference between a stocker and a stream born fish are night and day, but I thought it fair to give Mr. and Ms. Pellet Belly from down on Concrete Chase Way their day in the sun. These pictures had to surface sometime or another, the guilt has eaten away at my soul anyways. I need to come clean I guess and admit to my transgressions and let the dirty little secret out, I sometimes fish for stockers and take lots of pictures.

Does it crush my already shaky credibility with some of you? Make me look like some silly rookie posting pictures of giant fish thinking it's the ticket to being famous in next years brochure?

STOCKER

Pictures of stockers combined with the social media disease can destroy the reputation of a wild trout stream. It all starts innocently; Some amateur fly fisherman looking forward to his fur collar fluffing in Vail sees some fish porn and wants to be in a pic with that giant fish he saw on the web. Every wild fish that used to be held in the highest honor for their beauty and difficulty all become 2nd class chump change while people pay extra for a dance with a fish that should not even be there.That young lady pictured above will be let down by every other trout she ever holds. That sucks and yes I am partly to blame by using very limited skills, basic knowledge and flies my 6 year old tied to make that GMO Fish partly famous.My bad, it is my job after all.

STOCKER but a great family picture

We call them working fish in the industry. We bought 'em so we could sell them to you. Guides and outfitters make a living finding fish, who could blame a guy for doing things the easy way until the new implants die, it's in our nature. I get paid for putting people on fish, fish they can catch easily is good and if they are giants that is all the better, but it always takes me back to a line I heard from Hate years ago "Nothing easy is good". A large portion of my clients have no idea ol' Fat Albert was a bought fish anyways, they just think they landed the biggest Rainbow of their lives. And lets face facts here, a 20" stocker is soooo much easier to catch than a 20" wild fish, any day, any place, anytime, period. None the less a 20" fish is a picture almost everyone wants, I guess it's OK if that hog is a big farm bred, scuffed fin, pellet feeder. I have 100's of them on this machine, I just prefer everyone didn't know.

STOCKER, excellent handling for the camera though

IF YOU MUST shoot great exposures of store bought fish, start with good planning and a creative grip to hide the more obvious scrapes and dents. Hold that beat up propeller of a tail with the classic over hand grip, not because it might use its great strength and mass to over power you; No, it looks like your boy ran it's tail over with a lawn mower. Take care to point major scars and maybe that missing eye away from the camera. Try adding a distraction or two in the back ground like epic scenery or a photo bomb to draw attention away from common flaws like the anal pucker all stockers seem to come equipped with.

STOCKER and one of my favorite clients

I know they make for fantastic pictures and in most cases it is the biggest fish that will ever hang on a persons office wall, but do they belong in the marketing department of your fly shop if it is going to ruin an incredible fisheries reputation?
Just my opinion, but posting obvious stocker pics on your social media (ego blaster) shows you as a bit desperate.
To anyone who knows better it can show your short cuts or even make you seem lazy. I will not, nor can I stop taking people's pictures with our version of migrant workers, but I can choose to be careful where I make them accessible. Love the small things in life and maybe those special "little" wild trout that used to be held in such high regard for their challenging ways will get a few more chances to be on someone's wall.

Spring has sprung!! Or it felt that way the past week. No offense to those who paid for my company during our recent glimpse of spring, but the true stars of the show around here this weekend were the fish, once again proving their worth as incredible work associates. So for today I leave all those Family Room quality grip and grins on the hard drive and high light the colors of wild fish.

I am about to hook my boat for a float on the Roaring Fork and I can't stop thinking how good THE Eagle has been the last week, I will almost hate to walk away today.

Check out that Dorsal Fin

With or without the black tungsten bead, this little Golden Stone pattern out shined them all this Presidents weekend.

Came across this Monday Morning on the Colorado River just above New Castle.....pretty sure it didn't hatch there. I am also sure it is not there anymore as I watched some hill billy oil worker dude toss the remains in the front seat of his pick up. He was polite enough to holler across the river to ask if it was ours, which regrettably I had no good response for. Glad I got some pictures though.

"Beast Mode"

I said "Midgezilla, not Godzilla"

So I put my boat in at a truck stop off I-70, does that make this a "lot lizard"??

"WTF? I thought Oz Corp got control of that experiment"

"See how important sun screen is even in winter"

I could go on but want some of you guys to try. Lets have a little caption contest here. Winner gets 3 hand tied flies from me and a free 30 minute massage from Kit....while she is wearing her new Savannah Monitor flip flops.

Over 9 feet of snow has been reported here since the beginning of January. While it doesn't stop the fishing, it slows everything way down, making for a great time of year to catch up with the webs brightest blog talent.

FLOAT FEBRUARY

SPECIAL $399

FULL DAY FLOATS ON THE ROARING FORK AND LOWER COLORADO RIVERS ($550 value) WHEN YOU BOOK DIRECTLY WITH ME OR MINTURN ANGLERS THROUGH THE SHORT MONTH OF FEBRUARY!!

WINTER TIME IS THE BEST TIME TO HAVE WORLD FAMOUS FISHERIES LIKE THESE VIRTUALLY TO YOURSELF AND A BOAT IS THE BEST WAY TO SEE THEM.

SPRING IN MY WEIRD WORLD STARTS IN FEBRUARY. WATER AND AIR TEMPS BEGIN THEIR SLOW WARM, THE DAYS GET LONGER AND THE FISH BEGIN TO FEED MORE CONSISTENTLY ON INSECTS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF THEIR OWN WINTER SLUMBER.